


Three Legs and a Warm Heart

by Puregold



Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: Bonding, Dadvid AU, December probs close 2 christmas, Dogs, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Parent-Child Relationship, Past Child Abuse, adoption shelter, during the school year, foster parent au, max tries to make dogs more edgy than they actually are, theyyy get a DOG!!, this is all occuring after summer camp
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-06
Updated: 2017-08-06
Packaged: 2018-12-11 22:33:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11723958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Puregold/pseuds/Puregold
Summary: "Can we, uh... Maybe get this one?" Asked Max, as he knelt down to call over and gently pet a three-legged, rather nervous-looking German Shepard.David didn't even know how Max spotted it in the first place, since it was tucked at the far back of the cage before Max called to it. It looked rather rough around the edges and scraggly, and David smiled as he understood why Max would choose this dog.





	Three Legs and a Warm Heart

Max had been doing a great job adjusting, considering all that went down! It was about halfway through summer that David & Gwen had learned something was amiss in Max's home life, and the rest of the summer for them to take care of all the paper work and what-not, leaving Max in David's care! And he couldn't be happier! It took some time, sure, but for the past couple of months Max was getting better grades in school, making new friends, AND becoming better behaved at home! David thought that it was time for a reward. He knew Max had never really gotten rewarded for good behavior in the past, aside from maybe a sticker from a hapless teacher, and it was about time. On his way to pick Max up from school, he wondered what kind of dog Max would be interested in. 

David, of course, was a HUGE dog-lover, and was a bit surprised to find out Max was the same way! Of course, Max would blend it in with his facade, claiming that dogs were "cool" and "like wolves bred to do man's bidding", but David saw through to what was a fellow dog-lover. How exciting!

He lined up with all the other parents waiting for school to get out, and David watched as Max said goodbye to his friends, tucked his his gloved hands in his hoodie pocket to protect from the cold, and rushed over to David's car to clamber in to the backseat.

"Hey, Dad." He said, leaning close to the heater to warm his face.

It'd been a couple weeks since Max started calling him that, yet David still beamed at the name. "Hey, Max. How was school? Another exciting day of learning, I hope?"

Max shrugged. "It was okay. Some kid let the frogs loose in biology class, so that was fun." He said with a smirk. 

David rolled his eyes affectionately, unable to frown, the idea of bringing of bringing home a new friend still plastered in his mind. "So, Max, y'know, you've been doing really well in school lately."

Max narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "David... What're you doing?"

David laughed. "Nothing you won't like, Max. I promise."

Max looked out the window as they passed their turn to go home. "Where are we going?" His eyes widened in horror. "You better not be taking us camping, David! I swear to god!"

David laughed again. "No, silly. It's far too cold for that, anyway!" He said as he took a route unfamiliar to Max.

Max crossed his arms. "So, then, where are we going?"

"Patience" said David. "It's a surprise!" 

Max huffed and rolled his eyes, taking out his phone to text Neil & Nikki for a bit before they arrived at the animal shelter.

As Max looked up and got out of the car alongside David, he tried to conceal his budding excitement. "What're we doing here, David?" He asked with a grin. 

David ruffled Max's hair affectionately as he led the boy inside. "I'm letting you pick out a new friend for us to bring home!"

Max was grinning ear-to-ear as they made their way to the dogs. "Ohhh yeah, this is gonna be good!" Said Max, rubbing his hands together mischievously. "I'm gonna get the coolest, most rowdiest dog EVER an it's gonna annoy the shit outta you."

David huffed affectionately. "Language." Although he was happy that Max seemed to be enjoying himself, the whole point of this reward was for _good behavior_.

David follow Max as he led the two through the maze of dogs, David making sure to stop and pet each and every one, slowing him down a little. Eventually, Max came to a stop in front of one of the cages and his eyes went wide with affection. David smiled in excitement, knowing that Max had just fallen in love with the dog of his choosing.

"Dad?" Called Max down the hall.

David beamed as he caught up. "Yes, Max?"

"Can we, uh... Maybe get this one?" Asked Max, as he knelt down to call over and gently pet a three-legged, rather nervous-looking German Shepard.

David didn't even know how Max spotted it in the first place, since it was tucked at the far back of the cage before Max called to it. It looked rather rough around the edges and scraggly, and David smiled as he understood why Max would choose this dog.

David knelt beside Max and placed a hand on his shoulder affectionately. "Why, sure we can, Max." He beamed.

David & Max made their way back to the front desk with their new dog in tow, as it kept rather close to Max.

The lady at the front desk seemed both shocked and pleased as she saw the dog we chose. "That's Amber. She's house trained, although she _did_ come from an abusive environment and it may take her some time to warm up to you. She's skittish to loud noises and yelling, she doesn't like being pet on her back or belly since she can't see your hand, and in order to pet her you have to kind of kneel down and make sure the hand comes from _below her instead of above_. Think you can handle that?" She said with a smile aimed at Max.

Max glared a bit, feeling patronized. "Um, yeah. I can handle just about anything, lady." He said, as he bent down to pet Amber, talking softly to her. "You an me, girl. I know. I get you. But it's good now, David's got a nice house an he's _way_ too fucking chipper for anyone to be scared of him."

David beamed as he signed the paper work for them to adopt Amber, glad that Max had a friend that he could relate so closely with. The two made their way back to the car, Max snuggling up with Amber in the backseat. 

"So, what about all the food and beds and stuff?" Asked Max as he pet Amber, who's head was laying in his lap.

David smiled as he buckled in to the driver's seat. "Already taken care of! I took the earlier shift at work today so that I could get off early to get all the care items."

"Oh, wow. What a responsible dork." Replied Max with a smirk as he cooed at Amber. "Isn't he a dork? _Isn't he?_ "

Amber sniffed excitedly and panted in response, which seemed to satisfy Max. On their drive home, Max had fallen asleep curled up on top of Amber, and it was so darn cute that David maaayyyy have taken a picture or two before waking Max up to come inside.

**Author's Note:**

> Ummmm yeah hi I love dogs and babs bonding w/ dogs
> 
> Also the reason Amber warmed up 2 Max so quickly is 1, b/c the family she was with before had kids and they were always very nice w/ her and never abusive so she likes kids and 2, YOU KNOW dogs can fuckin like sense auras an shit so OBVS she sensed Max's aura of abused grumpy kid an was like "yes" so ya
> 
> hmu @puregold666 on tumblr.com lol


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